FORT MORGAN — — Christine Castoe, who is running unopposed for the Fort Morgan City Council seat she currently holds, is excited for the opportunity to continue as councilwoman.

She initially applied to be on the council in December 2012 and was sworn in last January to fill a seat that had been empty for five months. She said that former council members had encouraged her to apply.

"The more I thought about it, this is my home, my children grew up here, my grandchildren will grow up here," she recalled thinking, "I would like to be a part of the positive direction the city is going in."

And when the time came to choose whether to seek another term, this time by running in the election, she decided to go for it.

No one else in her ward made the same decision, so she wound up in a solo race.

"I look forward to serving four more years for the city," Castoe said. "It's been educating and enjoyable on so many levels."

Castoe and her boyfriend, Ryan Stroh, have five kids between them.

The family includes Castoe's adult sons, Shae Geist and Brandon Geist, and daughter Kelsey Whipple, who is a senior at Fort Morgan High School, and Stroh's twin 14-year-old daughters, Allyson Stroh and Madyson Stroh.

And Brandon Geist and his fiancee, Sydney L'Heureux, have two sons, Branson, 19 months, and Braydon, 3 months, and Castoe said she loves spending time with her grandsons.

Castoe also is a self-described "dog person," who once had nine dogs in her household. Now that number is down to a more manageable five, plus a cat.

"I have this big, huge passion for pets," she said.

Castoe currently works in the family businesses, Club Tap and Piggin' Out BBQ.

Ryan Stroh and Castoe have owned Club Tap for nine years, and that experience as a small business owner and her years in management were things she said helps her on the council.

"I don't have to have someone tell me what to do," she said. "I'm able to do the research myself. The management experience makes you less of a follower. I'm able to stand on my own convictions."

As an example, she cited her dissenting votes against the city's ban on recreational marijuana retail stores and grow operations, which she would have preferred to have been allowed and regulated.

She said she was in favor of economic development and that industries that could bring jobs and sales tax revenue to the city should not be banned as a whole.

"I very much believe in the small businesses," she said. "They're the backbone of this country."

Castoe is against rules and regulations that make it make it hard for an industry or a business to operate. Previously, she worked as a manager and regional manager for a chain in the small-installment loan business, also known as payday loans, but that stopped when new state laws made that industry no longer viable.

"It was legislated out of business," Castoe said.

She also has experience owning and managing other bars and businesses, including nine months at the Fort Morgan Elks Lodge before she joined the council.

"I decided, 'Why am I managing someone else's business when we have our own?'" she remembers thinking.

That's when she started managing Club Tap, which she does today.

Stances on issues

On some of the big issues facing the city, Castoe's stances are similar to some of her current colleagues on the council.

She likes the pay-as-you-go solution for stormwater relief projects that does not involve new taxes.

Castoe said the eminent domain action to acquire land for the new runway at Fort Morgan Municipal Airport was a "necessary evil" because "the airport project will help our whole community in various areas. We are agricultural, and I think having a bigger airport and runway will do nothing but help that."

On the city's housing shortage, she said the city was doing what it needed to be doing, working with contractors to find out what they wanted and streamlining permit and inspection processes.

She said the proposed housing development by the Morgan County Department of Human Services building on East Beaver Avenue would help things once built, but that people also needed to be prepared to pay the costs related to housing.

"The city's doing what it can," Castoe said. "It should be pretty builder-friendly now."

On water and the Northern Integrated Supply Project, Castoe said she was in favor of NISP and hoped to see it move forward, and that the city needed to keep building partnerships like the current one with Morgan County Quality Water District on the systems interconnect.

"I think the direction we're going is the direction it needs to go in," Castoe said.

On electricity, Castoe pointed out that the city has the lowest residential rates in Colorado.

"That incident that took place with (Municipal Energy Agency of Nebraska), that was completely out of our hands," she said. "It wasn't our own guys that did anything. I feel that situation is being handled the best it can be with the cards we were dealt."

On economic development and keeping sales tax revenue high, Castoe said the city needs to be "job-friendly" and assist business owners where it makes sense, but not put in place any "broad codes" that could make things harder for some without meaning to.

"I don't think one-size-fits-all works," she said. "Every little business is unique in its own way and has its own needs."

But Castoe said she thinks Fort Morgan has a good environment for businesses right now.